The whole story’s in the headline, really. But in the interests of value for money we feel we ought to expand a little.

Peat’s new deal isn’t exactly a shock – rumours have been floating about for quite a while. But it’s all official now. The two-time UCI World Cup Champion has signed a three-year deal with the Santa Cruz Syndicate and will be racing a V-10 in downhill events.

In a posting on his website, Peat says, “It has been long and very hard for me to come to this decision but I truly think it is the best for my racing career. To have a Professional race set up like Santa Cruz behind me is going to allow me to focus 100% on my racing.”

He pays tribute to his former sponsors Orange: “Being with Orange for the last four years has been amazing for me and I am very thankful to all at Orange for helping me win two World titles and numerous other races… I am sad to leave Orange and would like to thank everyone there for making the last four years fun and supporting me at the races.”

The official press release from Santa Cruz has Peat saying essentially the same with the addition of the line, “I am excited to be able to ride the Santa Cruz range of bikes, especially the V-10”. We’re not totally sure that that sounds like Steve speaking, but still…

Need more quotes? Here’s Rob Roskopp, owner of Santa Cruz Bicycles: “I’m excited we were able to get Steve to become part of the Syndicate. I expect that Steve’s incredible bike handling skills coupled with the V-10 will produce many wins. With Steve’s years of racing experience I have no doubt he’ll bring great insight into further developing future Santa Cruz products.”

Full marks to Roskopp for managing not to use the word “stoked” there. Peat’ll be doing DH and 4X events all over the place, including the World Cup, World Championships, UK National Championships and anything else he can fit in to his calendar. Best of luck to him…